THUNDER: Angelini's longball propels Trenton

TRENTON — Carmen Angelini has spent enough time on the bench with injuries, so now he’s trying to make up for lost time.

The shortstop hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth as the Thunder scored four times in the inning to overtake Reading, 10-6, in Monday’s matinee for their fourth straight win.

“The past few days I’ve been swinging the bat well and it just hasn’t fallen in for me,” said the 24-year-old, who has missed the better part of three seasons with injury, including all of 2012, and is in his first year at Double-A.

“It’s definitely a boost just to get any hit, and a home run is even better. For the team there, that was huge — a great way to start some momentum and get a great inning going.”

The Thunder took four of five from the Fightin Phils, moving one game over .500 (45-44) and one game back of second-place Portland heading into the two-day All-Star break.

“Losing six games (in a row), that was tough,” said left fielder Shane Brown, who drove in a pair of runs, including a perfectly placed bunt on a suicide squeeze in the eighth. “We’re a good team and we battle. To go on this streak right before the All-Star game is big. Now we have a break, which is tough, but we have to come back ready to get it going again.”

Trailing 5-1 in the sixth, the Thunder rallied for five runs in the frame, sending nine batters to the plate.

Jose Pirela (2 for 4, two stolen bases) knocked in a pair of runs with a double, but the big play was Cody Grice’s hustle that allowed Brown — whose single plated Casey Stevenson with the tying run — to score the run that temporarily gave the Thunder a 6-5 advantage.

Grice busted out of the box to beat the throw from Reading shortstop Troy Hanzawa.

“That was a huge hit for us,” said manager Tony Franklin. “These plays get overlooked, but it tied the score. It would have been easy for him not to run that out.”

Reading grabbed the lead right back in its half of the eighth against Danny Burawa, who walked Jim Murphy to leadoff the inning before pinch-runner Tyler Henson scored on Tommy Joseph’s single.

The Thunder answered when Angelini stepped up to leadoff the eighth with his second homer since being promoted to Trenton.

“When I hit it, I knew it had the distance, but I didn’t know if it was going to stay fair,” Angelini said. “It was awfully close, and to be honest with you, I didn’t see exactly where it landed so I didn’t know how close it was. I’m just glad it was fair.”

The Thunder kept the pressure on the Reading bullpen — which allowed nine earned runs in five innings after starter Seth Rosin departed after three so he would be prepared to throw in Wednesday’s All-Star game — with Brown pushing across Stevenson with the squeeze.

“You don’t get to do that too often,” said Brown, admitting that was his first squeeze in pro ball. “Seeing the signal from Tony, you’re like, ‘did I really just see that?’ But I was lucky enough to get it down.”

Burawa (2-2) picked up the win while Colby Shreve (0-2) took the loss.

Zach Nuding started for the Thunder and allowed five runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. Trenton’s five-run sixth took him off the hook for his 11th loss of the season.

The Thunder have a two-day break before returning to action with a four-game set against New Britain.

“Hopefully, we can pick it up when we come back,” Franklin said. “We need a spark somewhere and we got it. I think we played really well this series.”

NOTES: Center fielder Slade Heathcott fouled a ball off his foot in the seventh inning and limped out to take the field. Franklin said he should be OK. …With Jeff Farnham as the only able-bodied catcher on the roster, Franklin said either Brown or Stevenson would have filled in if there were an emergency situation. … Tyler Austin and Ramon Flores were given days off with both scheduled to play in Wednesday’s Eastern League All-Star game in New Britain. Pitchers Tommy Kahnle and Nik Turley are also on the roster. The rest of the team will leave Thursday morning for New Britain with the Thunder playing a four-game set against the Rock Cats starting Thursday night. … Franklin said he has no news on whether Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter could rehab with the Thunder. ... After the game, the Thunder placed starting pitcher Shane Greene (blister) and catcher Francisco Arcia (swollen thumb) on the disabled list.